Deap Vally Gear Guide

Deap Vally Gear Guide

They've already played with Iggy Pop and Josh Homme's 'Eagles Of Death Metal' and are currently touring Europe with Mumford & Sons; favourable comparisons have been made to Jack White and the Black Keys. So surely it can only be a matter of time before Deap Vally make the jump from indie press darlings to monsters of rock.

It's pretty much an all Fender setup for Lindsey Troy, with every guitarist's favourite touring amp the Hot Rod Deluxe. Takes pedals nicely on clean/crunch settings or all 40 watts can be utilised for massive cranked full amp distortion. The '59 Bassman is a mighty amp too, with a distinct flavour all of it's own. There appears to be an A/B switcher too, so it's likely Lindsey switches between the amps for different settings rather than to give the soundman a blend.

For the guitars it's all Mustang, originally conceived as a more affordable Fender model it's a fitting match for garage rock tones. Single coils bring plenty of bite but no fussy switches or vibrato like it's cousin Jaguar. On mic duty it's the ubiquitous SM57.

Julie Edwards rocks a fairly minimal Gretsch kit with a deep snare and we can spy a Beta 52 at the sound hole. Thanks to the BBC for this pic from their Live Lounge session.

What can be said of the Big Muff that has not already been intimated through the wild tones of Jack White, Billy Corgan, Dave Gilmour, Matt Bellamy, Mudhoney, J. Mascis...

Alongside the Muff there's a mystery pedal, also spotted on the Live Lounge session. Answers on a postcard if you know what it is.

There was a nice selection of mics used at the Shipping Forecast gig too. We can see a silver colour condenser, similar to the one on guitar in the top left, that might well be an Audio Technica 4047.

By their nature, they say, what they do is political — “In that we’re women,” Troy says, “and we play this type of heavy rock music, not afraid to let it all hang out,” she says proudly. Edwards adds, “So many women masculinise themselves and play their femininity down, and something Lindsey and I felt is that we have never wanted to do that. I’ve been playing drums in tiny shorts for as long as I’ve been playing drums.”

Certainly, short shorts and their breed of visceral, heart-churning rock ‘n’ roll is quite an arresting combination. “I don’t know what image of femininity we’re trying to fulfill,” Edwards says, “and maybe we’re creating a new one: we’re badass but we’re not mean-spirited and angry. We just really, really love heavy music.”

“We believe,” says Troy, “in bringing truly live music back.” Edwards nods. “And we believe in the rock ‘n’ roll revolution, bringing guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll back to the mainstream. We love Led Zeppelin —they’re our heroes. Because that’s a band that played stadiums, didn’t have a safety net of a pre-recorded back-up tape, they didn’t record to a click, and they were really, really sexy and really commanding. And why can’t that happen again? “

Catch them live in London on May 22nd

Or if you can't wait that long the debut EP is out April 9th

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